Waiting for the signal, Sigulf flicked his right wrist.

‘Barring her fight against Amakawa and one mock duel, I haven’t really grasped the exact way she fights.’

“Duelists! Your oath!” Eliot commanded.

“”We, the Duelists from Atlantic swore to abide by the rules, respect the judge’s decision, and fight with all of our might, in honor of our opponent, and for the glory of one own self!””

‘What I do know is that she’s speed-oriented, and… Well, being called the Fire Princess…’

“Very good! Now, summon your True Arms!”

Both of Sigulf and Eurypha took their own poses, ready to call forth the weapons of their soul.

‘…however, when it comes to speed, I too…!’

“O Flames of the Goddess, overwhelm my foes and blaze my path to victory! Dance, Eos!”

“Hunt… Slay… Be victorious! Break free from your bindings and run wild, Fenrir!”

Her rapier of fire against his axes of cold. One forged by Hephaestus meets one tempered by the frost of Niflheim.

“This is…” Walter whispered.

“Yes, their elemental affinities are opposites of each other. Thus, damage dealt to both sides will be bigger.” Minato explained. “Which means, this fight might end sooner than we expect.”

Sigulf slightly hunched, getting into his primal fighting stance.

“En garde!”

Eurypha swung her weapon and cut the empty air. Her intense gaze fixed at the boy across.

“Begin!!”

Faster than normal eyes can follow, both fighters dashed towards each other at Eliot’s cue.

‘Hrimgard, your legs might be agile, but I’ll show you the speed of my blade!’

Getting close, Eurypha sidestepped at the last moment to Sigulf left side and unleashed a thrust. However, Sigulf anticipated and blocked it with his left axe.

‘Tch, so he didn’t got baited…!’

Sigulf retaliated with his other axe, leaving her no other choice but to guard.

‘Wha—!?’

The strike still blew her back, even though there was no damage.

‘So strong…!’

‘Rapiers normally wouldn’t defend against that.’ Sigulf thought. ‘But I guess that’s to be expected from Olympia’s heiress.’

He shifted back into his ready stance, waiting for Eurypha to move.

‘I see he’s taking this easy. However…!’

She broke into a run and rapidly sidestepped to either side to disorient Sigulf.

‘Can you take this…!?’

A sharp turn into his right side. Sigulf still seemingly unmoving.

“Haaah!!”

A piercing torrent sprang forth from the Eos. However…

‘I can see it…!’

Sigulf immediately reacted and countered every thrust with his own swings.

‘He even matched every one of it…!’

The exchange of blows finally ended when Sigulf brought his axes down in an x-shape; Eurypha had to backflip for safety.

‘This guy…!’

She slowly rose up.

‘Was he always defensive like this? Never mind that, since when he’s good at defending?’

‘Good thing I had that crash course with Chelsea.’ Sigulf thought. ‘And now…’

He lowered his posture, ready to run.

‘Let’s get offensive…!!’

In no time, Sigulf had already rushed and leapt in front of Eurypha with his Fenrir raised high.

“Wha—“

‘First blood—‘

However, instead of attempting to block or evade, she opted to charge ahead and raised her sword.

‘…!?’

A clean hit to both sides before they passed each other.

‘Guess I’m too excited there…’ Sigulf thought.

“Battle points, down by 20%.”

“Battle points, down by 15%.” The system notified.

“The impact is clearly bigger.” Minato commented.

“Yeah, but Hrimgard’s having the advantage here.” Walter added.

“If this keeps up, even by trading blows…”

‘Don’t lose, Hestianus…!’

Sigulf darted forward and resumed their duel.

“Grrh…!”

“Why you…!”

Swing by swing, clashing against her alternating slashes and stabs.

‘Even his arms are fast…! I have to break this situation somehow…!’

Eurypha suddenly swerved back, hoping to bait Sigulf into striking empty air. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fooled; Sigulf decided to delay his attack for a second or a half.

‘He read my— Kh…!’

She barely defended herself. The resulting small opening was more than enough for Sigulf.

“Gotcha!”

“Gh…! Not yet!”

Sigulf unleashed an upward diagonal swing at the same time as Eurypha thrusting her right arm forward.

‘Gh…!’

Another mutual hit. The force pushed both of them back and made some distance.

“Battle points, down by 20%.”

“Battle points, down by 15%.”

‘Her desperation became determination.’ Sigulf mentally noted. ‘Gotta applaud that.’

He changed his stance, something which Eurypha aware of.

‘Is it…!?’

“Limiter: Laedingr, re—“

“I won’t let you!!”

Eurypha hurriedly blitzed through and released a powerful piercing attack. But Sigulf easily sidestepped against it.

“…!?”

‘It was a feint!?’

“Hestianus!” Walter shouted.

“Raaah!”

“Kh…!”

Amazingly, she still managed to turn around and guarded at the last moment, blowback notwithstanding.

‘…! Just a bit more…!’

Sigulf didn’t waste any time and pursued Eurypha.

‘This guy’s so persistent…!’

Coming back to bashing each other’s steel, it’s clear that as much as she can keep up with his speed, Sigulf has the upper hand in strength.

“Kuh…!”

A well-timed strike by Sigulf staggered Eurypha. He moved in for the follow-up.

‘Here he comes…!’

She braced herself for the attack. But it didn’t come as Sigulf ran further and circled to her back instead.

‘Oh no…!’

“There!!”

This time, Eurypha’s speed didn’t make it. Sigulf’s right swing scored a clean hit.

“Kyah!”

She was sent flying and it took a while before she could roll safely.

“D, damn…!”

“Battle points, down by 20%.”

“He’s definitely in the lead…!” Walter noted in worry.

“Sig-kun finally managed to avoid trading blows.” Yuu commented.

Sigulf said nothing and waited for Eurypha to stand up.

‘This isn’t good…!’ she thought. Our speed is about the same, it’s like he can read my movements, and I can’t overpower him…!’

Eurypha braced herself as Sigulf slowly made his way.

‘…if I keep getting pushed back when attacks, then…!’

She suddenly shifted her posture, pulling her right arm back. Crimson-colored energy builds up and gathered around her.

‘This is…!?’

‘I’ll strike before he can…!!’

Sigulf hastily rushed to her, but it was a bit too late.

“Take… This!!”

“…!?”

It was much faster compared to her thrusts before. And even though Sigulf could raise his axes in the nick of time, the increase in power was enough to stagger him.

‘What the…!?’

‘It wasn’t enough…! But…!’

A chance she refused to miss. Eurypha assaulted Sigulf with a rain of blades, forcing him to go defensive.

‘Shit…!’

She didn’t relent at all and kept on pressing the offensive.

‘His defense didn’t crumble… But…!’

Eurypha suddenly stopped attacking. Even for a moment, it managed to mess up Sigulf’s timing.

“Wha…!?”

‘Now…!’

She delivered a kick right to his stomach and knocked Sigulf out of balance.

“Gah…!”

“You’re wide open!!”

Similar to before, Eurypha released a high speed lunge with her Eos.

“Guh…!”

It connected cleanly with Sigulf’s chest and violently thrashed him away.

“Battle points, down by 30%.”

“Uoooooohh!” Walter suddenly shouted, followed by some other who cheered along.

“Hestianus-san!” Minato joined.

‘That wasn’t as strong as I hoped.’ Eurypha thought. ‘But it’s enough to even things out…! I’ll get him with the next one!’

On the other side, Sigulf finally got up, still feeling the pain.

‘By Loki, that was fast…’ he mentally noted. ‘But…!’

He took another stance, and his Fenrir began to glow blue.

‘We are further apart than before. And…’

‘Is he going to release his limiter!? I can’t let him!’

Charging complete. Once again, kicking the ground with full force, Eurypha launched herself for the finishing blow.

‘Make it in time…!!’

However, Sigulf brought up his weapons and slammed them hard to the ground.

‘You’re still going on a straight line!’

“…!?”

Claw-shaped pillars of ice emerged from below and stopped Eurypha dead in her tracks.

‘Solid ice!? No, this is energy projection…!’

“How did he do that!?” Walter asked in disbelief.

“Could it be… He learned it from the Pacifics?” Minato wondered.

‘Something like this…!’

Not wanting to get stalled, Eurypha mustered her strength and pressed onward.

‘…! It’s getting weaker!’

Sigulf’s energy claws began to recede.

‘Now! This is th— …!?’

She felt unexpected movements, and it wasn’t for him to maintain the barrier.

‘Don’t tell me…!’

No matter how short the delay, it was all Sigulf needed.

“Limiter: Laedingr, release!”

A blue explosion of energy occurred at the same time with the ice being shattered. Eurypha streaked like a red flash and stabbed nothing; Sigulf has already moved out of harm’s way.

“You…”

Sigulf slowly rose up. His Fenrir glows pale blue, and his eyes gave a feral glint.

“Time to hunt…!”